Auckland Conservation Board members

Ross Aitken of Mahurangi

Director and past CEO of the Equitable Group of companies; operator of Waipiata Lodge; previously a senior manager for the Westpac Group; business mentor; member of the Friends of the Mahurangi and Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Supporters Incorporated; a founding member of Zealandia - the Karori Sanctuary; recreational interests include kayaking, swimming and tramping.

Laurie Beamish, Ngai Tai, of Umupuia (Vice Chairperson)

Thirty five years marine experience including commercial fishing and skippering a charter boat; voyaged extensively on both coasts of the North Island and to the Kermadec Islands; CEO of the Ngai Tai environmental arm; Co-secretary of the Ngai Tai ki Tamaki Tribal Trust; Trustee and member of the Tiriti negotiation team on the Tamaki Makarau collective; direct ancestral links to both European and Maori first settlers in the Auckland region; recreational interests include traditional food gathering, Waka Taua, boating, surfing and diving.

Dr Jacqueline Beggs, Ngati Awa, of Glendowie (Chairperson)

Doctorate in terrestrial ecology; lectures in entomology and ecology at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland; involved with a number of restoration projects in the Auckland region and the Kakapo Recovery Programme; Fulbright Scholar 2007; President of the NZ Entomological Society.

Sze Man (Stella) Chan of Remuera

Heavily involved in Chinese Conservation Education Trust as founding trustee and with other projects; speaks fluent Mandarin and Cantonese; Executive Committee member of Hong Kong NZ Business Association; recreational interests include hiking and trekking.

Dianne Glenn of Pukekohe

Former Chair of the Auckland Regional Council's Environmental Management and Regulatory Committee; strong connections to both urban and rural communities in the South Auckland region; extensive experience in governance at a strategic, regional level; recreational interests include bird translocations, camping, fishing, tramping, walking holidays, and visits to conservation land in the Hauraki Gulf, South Island, Australia and USA.

Thomas Grace of Woodhill

Beef farmer; Auckland Council Rodney Local Board member; former Rodney District Councillor who donated Thomas Grace Reserve to the Rodney District Council; former Chair for many community and sporting organisations; recreational interests include forest running and historic military vehicles.

Martin Gummer of Newmarket

Fellow of the NZ Institute of Management company director; qualified barrister and solicitor; conservation volunteer for the Motutapu Restoration Trust with a strong knowledge of NZ native flora and birdlife; former CEO of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, Transfund and the Auckland Regional Transport Network Limited; recreational interests include cycling, gardening, landscaping and tennis.

Joan (Jo) Knight of Birkenhead

CEO, senior manager and consultant experienced in not-for-profit, council and educational institutions; experienced project manager with expertise in the areas of environment, orthinology, waste, public health and sustainability; interested in water quality issues and the tension between business and the environment, for instance aquaculture; board member and current Chair of the Kaipatiki Project Incorporated; Trustee of Te Araroa Trust; former Curator of Community Programmes at Auckland Zoo, collaborated with DOC on the Kakapo Experience; wrote the development plan for award winning Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony; set up school and public education at the then new Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World prior to 1990; recreational interests include tramping, walking, kayaking, bird watching and travel.

Ian Rodger of Howick

Lifetime interest in agriculture and the outdoors; Chair of the Auckland section of the NZ Institute of Agricultural Science; past president of the NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers; previous CEO of the Te Araroa Trust; farmer; worked at Dow Agro Sciences for 36 years; recreational interests include sea and freshwater fishing, sailing and tramping.

Janis (Wiki) Walker, Nga Puhi, Ngatihine, Wai-o-hua Waikato, of Matakana

Experienced in environmental and resource management; expertise in co-management between local government and Maori communities; Winston Churchill Fellowship recipient - study of Swedish model of sustainable development and synergies to Maori view of natural sustainability; business administration and strategic fit in sustainability; advocate of ecological design and conservation of natural flora and fauna; part owner Rainbow Valley Farm; member of Nga Kaihautu Maori Advisory Board to Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) until June 2011; recreational interests include food gathering and foraging, gardening, perma culture farm and native forest walks.

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